Ducati MotoGP boss Davide Tardozzi has revealed that Franco Morbidelli will join Fabio di Giannantonio at the factory-supported VR46 team next year.
Although an announcement is yet to be made by Valentino Rossi’s squad, Tardozzi appears to have gotten ahead of himself and divulged VR46’s line-up for the 2025 season.
Tardozzi also confirmed that VR46 will receive only a single GP25 bike, which will go to 2023 Qatar GP winner di Giannantonio, while Morbidelli will continue to compete with the GP24 he currently rides at Pramac.
“Next year, di Giannantonio will have a GP25 and Morbidelli a GP24,” Tardozzi said in a TV interview during Friday practice for the British Grand Prix.
VR46 boss Uccio Saluccio found out about Tardozzi’s apparent slip of tongue and he subsequently visited the Ducati chief during practice to seek an explanation from him.
Their impromptu meeting was caught by TV cameras and made it clear that Salucci wasn’t impressed with Tardozzi’s premature revelation of the team’s line-up.
The disagreement between VR46 and Ducati came just hours after the two parties announced a strengthening of their ties from 2025, as the Italian squad prepares to take over from Pramac as Borgo Panigale’s primary satellite squad.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
With the news of Morbidelli and di Giannantonio now out in public, it is believed that VR46 will officially announce the two riders in the coming hours.
Di Giannantonio has stepped up a gear this year and outperformed his three-time grand prix-winning team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, who will be moving to the factory Aprilia team next year alongside current Pramac rider Jorge Martin.
He will be one of the only three riders to get the latest machinery from the Italian manufacturer next year, along with Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez from the works team.
Morbidelli, meanwhile, is mentored by Rossi and is well-known to the VR46 squad from his days in junior classes.
With his current team Pramac joining forces with his former employer Yamaha and racing the M1, a bike he struggled with in the last few years, continuing with Paolo Ciabatti ‘s team was never really an option for him.
The 2020 title runner-up has thus found refugee at VR46, although he will have to be content with what will then be a year-old Desmosedici.
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